Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN, United States

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Ministerial Declaration on ending violence and discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity

Ministerial Declaration on ending violence and discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, United Nations, New York, 26 september 2013

We, ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, El Salvador, France, Israel,
Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and United States, and the High
Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy –
members of the LGBT Core Group at the United Nations – hereby declare our strong
and determined commitment to eliminating violence and discrimination against
individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.

In so doing, we reaffirm our conviction that human rights are the birthright
of every human being. Those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) must enjoy the same human rights as everyone else.

We welcome the many positive steps taken in recent decades to protect LGBT
individuals from human rights violations and abuses. Since 1990, some 40
countries have abolished discriminatory criminal sanctions used to punish
individuals for consensual, adult same-sex conduct. In many countries, hate
crime laws and other measures have been introduced to combat homophobic
violence, and anti-discrimination laws have been strengthened to provide
effective legal protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity in the workplace and other spheres, both public
and private.

We also recognize that countering discrimination involves challenging popular
prejudices, and we welcome efforts by Governments, national human rights
institutions and civil society to counter homophobic and transphobic attitudes
in society at large, including through concerted public education campaigns.

We assert our support for, and pay tribute to, LGBT human rights defenders
and others advocating for the human rights of LGBT persons. Their work, often
carried out at considerable personal risk, plays a critical role in documenting
human rights violations, providing support to victims, and sensitizing
Governments and public opinion.

We commend the adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council of
resolution 17/19 on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, and we
welcome the efforts of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human
Rights to raise global awareness of human rights challenges facing LGBT
individuals, and to mobilize support for measures to counter violence and
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Nevertheless, we remain gravely concerned that LGBT persons in all regions of
the world continue to be victims of serious and widespread human rights
violations and abuses.

A landmark 2011 study by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which drew
on almost two decades worth of work by United Nations human rights mechanisms,
found a deeply disturbing pattern of violence and discriminatory laws and
practices affecting individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation and
gender identity.

It is a tragedy that, in this second decade of the 21st century, consensual,
adult, same-sex relations remain criminalized in far too many countries –
exposing millions of people to the risk of arrest and imprisonment and, in some
countries, the death penalty. These laws are inconsistent with States’ human
rights obligations and commitments, including with respect to privacy and
freedom from discrimination. In addition, they may lead to violations of the
prohibitions against arbitrary arrest or detention and torture, and in some
cases the right to life.

In all parts of the world – including in our own – LGBT individuals are
subjected to intimidation, physical assault, and sexual violence, and even
murder. Discriminatory treatment is also widely reported, inhibiting the
enjoyment of a range of human rights – including the rights to freedom of
expression, association and peaceful assembly, and work, education and enjoyment
of the highest attainable standard of health.

We are fully committed to tackling these violations and abuses – both at the
domestic level, including through continued attention to the impact of current
policies, and at the global level, including through concerted action at the
United Nations.

We recognize the importance of continued dialogue between and within
countries concerning how best to protect the human rights of LGBT persons,
taking into account regional initiatives. In this context, we welcome the
outcome of a series of recent regional consultations on the topic of human
rights, sexual orientation and gender identity that took place in March and
April 2013, and encourage the holding of further such meetings at regional and
national levels.

Key to protecting the human rights of LGBT individuals is the full and
effective implementation of applicable international human rights law. Existing
international human rights treaties provide legally binding guarantees of human
rights for all – LGBT people included. But for these guarantees to have meaning
they must be respected by Governments, with whom legal responsibility for the
protection of human rights lies.

Cognizant of the urgent need to take action, we therefore call on all United
Nations Member States to repeal discriminatory laws, improve responses to
hate-motivated violence, and ensure adequate and appropriate legal protection
from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

We strongly encourage the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to
continue its efforts to increase understanding of the human rights challenges
facing LGBT people, advocate for legal and policy measures to meet these
challenges, and assist the United Nations human rights mechanisms in this
regard.

We agree with the United Nations Secretary-General’s assessment that
combating violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender
identity constitutes “one of the great, neglected human rights challenges of our
time”. We hereby commit ourselves to working together with other States and
civil society to make the world safer, freer and fairer for LGBT people
everywhere.